


Growth

by Hekate1308



Series: Balance and New Beginnings [13]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, M/M, season 12 au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 11:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10695930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hekate1308/pseuds/Hekate1308
Summary: Mick’s been with them for a week when Sam decides to properly talk to him.





	Growth

Mick’s been with them for a week when Sam decides to properly talk to him.

He’s well aware that he’s been cowardly hiding in the library most of the time since he came to join them, but the memory of him letting Dean walk away and following orders for a year still stings.

Some days, he can’t believe how ungrateful he’s been.

On others, he can only too well.

Dean’s long forgiven him, of course. As he always does.

Same with Cas.

And Crowley... It’s Crowley. God knows what he’s thinking half of the time.

But he did show up to help them just because he was worried, and he’s given them a new home.

And he’s been nothing but helpful and accommodating – as they’ve learned, many humans wouldn’t do all that Crowley has done for them.

He’s procrastinating, and he knows it.

The point is he knows only too well what it means to march away from the drums and try to relearn another beat.

Plus, Dean told them about Mick’s upbringing.

Their childhood was far from ideal, but his formative years...

He’s not in the room they gave him.

Huh, the Jane Austen set from their library is lying on his bedside table. Sam should really ask what all the laughter he and Dean have shared is all about.

He finds him in the room with the pool table – “the play room” as Crowley dubbed it with his usual constraint and modesty – just sitting down and reading Charles Dickens.

It was one of the things that confused him most.

_“What’s this room for?”_

_“I do wonder” Crowley answers, exaggerating his own accent. “There seems to be a certain device that enables one to play a game, which one would be unable to find anywhere else in the house.”_

_“What his Highness wants to say” Dean chimes in “is that we play pool here”. He winked at Cas._

_“Absolutely perfect for lessons how to do it the right way.”_

_Sam is rather glad he hasn’t witnessed one of those lessons yet._

_“So you have a room just for a game” Mick states, still staring at the table. “It seems a little... frivolous.”_

_“Oh, don’t worry, Doctor Trevelyan, we like frivolous here.”_

_“The Adventure of the Resident Patient?” Cas asks while Dean just shakes his head at Crowley._

_“What? Still young, somewhat smart, should have noticed his employer was a criminal. Fits the bill.”_

He seems to have gotten over his surprise at their being a room just to relax in.

Apart from the swimming pool. And the rooftop with the great view of the lake. And several other rooms Crowley built in case they ever need of something they need space for.

“Hey. How are you?”

Mick looks up.

“I’m doing well. I just needed a little time to myself... Kelly called Dean to gush over Luci – I mean Aidan”.

Sam can imagine that it might take him some time to get used to the devil’s son being a normal child.

“And your... room?”

Sam’s come to recognize that Dean’s always been better at human interaction than he gave him credit for. Dean just gets people instinctively.

Mick smiles.

“It was very kind of you to take me in.”

“You helped us.”

Mick nods.

“I doubt I would have before...” he trails off.

Before Dean walking away. Before Sam joining him. Before Mick meeting Mel.

The possibilities are quite endless, but Sam doesn’t press him.

“I am sorry about your mother”. He shifts in his chair. “I already told Dean, but he said not to worry.”

“Dean was... sceptical from the moment he saw how different she was from the woman he remembered.”

“And you weren’t.”

It’s a statement. And it’s true.

How can it not be, with Mick and Sam having been paired off in countless killing missions? And yet he barely knows the guy. They never talked about private stuff.

“I get it” Mick says softly. “I don’t remember my parents, but if I could meet them...”

Dean was right about yet another thing yesterday, Sam realizes.

_“You think they have a weird British cult thing going on? The Men of Letters?” Dean asks once Mick’s retired for the night._

_“What do you mean?” Sam answers._

_“Guy’s accent is much less noticeable now that he’s not constantly surrounded by Harry Potter wannabes”._

_Dean shudders at his own reference._

Mick definitely sounds more like an actual person instead of a caricature. In time, they might even be able to pass him off as a fed.

Sam nods.

“It was overwhelming.”

So overwhelming he almost forgot about the part of his family who’d always been there for him, right from the start.

They fall silent.

Eventually, to break the slight tension, Sam says, “I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s that about the Men of Letters and Jane Austen?”

His very first night here, he heard Sam and Mick talking about it as he entered the kitchen.

Mick grins.

“Elton and Willoughby are both antagonists in her works.”

“Seriously?”

“They don’t like it being mentioned for a reason.”

Sam laughs.

“Did Dean tell you he actually quotes her books to Cas when he wants to be romantic?”

“I can imagine.”

Sam bets he can. Dean and Cas see no point in hiding their relationship even a little bit. Not that they make out in front of other people, but holding hands? Small kisses? Bright, happy grins? Check, check and check.

Another example is just around the corner, since a few moments later a happily smiling Dean pulls Cas into the room.

“Hey guys, I was looking for you. Mel’s here.”

“Where?” Mick asks.

“The swimming pool. Think she wants to make sure you’re alright, since she was the first monster to make contact with you.”

She also wrote emails to Mick and met up with him at least once, they know. He hasn’t mentioned it yet but is aware they know.

It’s part of the new honesty Sam has really come to cherish in this new chapter of their lives.

“The water wraith... wants to see me... and has come to temporarily reside... in the swimming pool” Mick says slowly. “Alright”.

He’s trying his best to get used to their usual madness as quickly as possible.

Dean winks at him.

“Trust me, that’s nothing. Come on.”

They pass Crowley in the corridor.

“I would have thought you’d inform me we had a guest. I’m still living here, you know”.

“No one said you weren’t. Stop moping” Dean replies as he strolls past him, still holding Cas’ hand.

“Still feeling alright?” Sam asks.

“It’s... different. At Kendricks, things were... strange too. But it never felt like this”.

They’re walking slower than the others.

“We were always confronted with the supernatural too, if just in theory. And we were always taught to fear it. We certainly weren’t supposed to... eat dinner with the King of Hell.”

“Or have a drink with him” Sam recalls, grinning.

They found out on Mick’s third night here that despite his apparent iron live he’s no match for Crowley’s Craig.

 They had to bring him to bed that night.

“Yes, now that you mention it.”

“Come on. Mel can be... tempestuous.”

And they quickly walk the rest of the way.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, the part aboute Jane Austen's characters is true.   
> I can't be the only one who thinks the Men of Letters sound ridiculously British.


End file.
